Mr. Patron has sufficient evidence of Paul cheating, but Paul claims he was not cheating. Paul also happens to be the son of Mr. Patron’s boyfriend which makes him worry because if he accuses Paul of cheating, the accusation may cause a strain in their relationship. Paul says he didn’t cheat, but Mr. Patron is worried that if he overlooks the incident this time, assuming he did actually cheat, Paul would try it again on the future tests which Mr. Patron would not be able to ignore. There are two general ethical dilemmas present in this case. One is for Mr. Patron to decide if he is going to enforce the school policy with Paul as he would with any other student or overlook the situation because he does not want to risk his romantic relationship
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Patron would be to let Paul cheat. Although he knows that Paul cheated on his exam he has not told anyone that he knows and has no risk of getting into trouble or getting any disciplinary action. This would be the deceptive thing to do because he would be allowing a student to cheat even if he knows about it. However, it benefits him because it will not strain his personal relationship with the student and the student’s father, who is his boyfriend. While this may seem like a negative ethical decision at first, that may not be the case. Some views on ethical decisions may support the fact that this is an acceptable choice. When viewing this case most people will most likely view it from the fairness approach. In the fairness approach the most fundamental principle is the idea of justice. “Justice means giving each person what he or she deserves or, in more traditional terms, giving each person his or her due.” (Strike & Soltis, 2009). When viewing this case it is not hard to see that since Paul is cheating he deserves to fail. He knows the rules and he knows that there is a strict zero tolerance policy for cheating at his school. Therefore, since he knew the rules and broke them the Fairness Approach would say that he deserves to be punished accordingly. This would mean he fails the class because Mr. Patron should turn him in. However, not all approaches may agree with this view. When looking at the situation from another view known as utilitarianism, one may arrive at a different outcome. Utilitarianism is a simple concept that focuses on creating the most good with the least amount of harm (Strike & Soltis, 2009). So if we take out the factor of justice and what Paul deserves and simply look at what creates the most good for all parties involved we see a different outcome. If Mr. Patron were to pretend he believes Paul and allow him to cheat it would cause less harm and more good to himself, Paul, and even Rick. First, the obvious
Patron would be to let Paul cheat. Although he knows that Paul cheated on his exam he has not told anyone that he knows and has no risk of getting into trouble or getting any disciplinary action. This would be the deceptive thing to do because he would be allowing a student to cheat even if he knows about it. However, it benefits him because it will not strain his personal relationship with the student and the student’s father, who is his boyfriend. While this may seem like a negative ethical decision at first, that may not be the case. Some views on ethical decisions may support the fact that this is an acceptable choice. When viewing this case most people will most likely view it from the fairness approach. In the fairness approach the most fundamental principle is the idea of justice. “Justice means giving each person what he or she deserves or, in more traditional terms, giving each person his or her due.” (Strike & Soltis, 2009). When viewing this case it is not hard to see that since Paul is cheating he deserves to fail. He knows the rules and he knows that there is a strict zero tolerance policy for cheating at his school. Therefore, since he knew the rules and broke them the Fairness Approach would say that he deserves to be punished accordingly. This would mean he fails the class because Mr. Patron should turn him in. However, not all approaches may agree with this view. When looking at the situation from another view known as utilitarianism, one may arrive at a different outcome. Utilitarianism is a simple concept that focuses on creating the most good with the least amount of harm (Strike & Soltis, 2009). So if we take out the factor of justice and what Paul deserves and simply look at what creates the most good for all parties involved we see a different outcome. If Mr. Patron were to pretend he believes Paul and allow him to cheat it would cause less harm and more good to himself, Paul, and even Rick. First, the obvious